Footfall at malls are down 20-25 per cent in the past couple of years.
The party president also said that India's self-confidence, pride and scale of ambition have grown manifold in three years.
'A conventional war is not in fashion today and not seen as being able to deliver the objective.' 'Perhaps surgical strikes that are deeper, this time not on Pakistan's terrorist facilities, but on Pakistan army facilities.' 'The nation has to be prepared for losses.' 'War is not something that can be pussyfooted around.' 'If we go for limited number of posts in Kashmir, these are very difficult posts to capture and very difficult operations.' 'Be prepared for 200 to 300 killed.'
Even as France mourns the bloodiest terrorist attack for 20 years, let's take a look at some major standoffs witnessed in the past:
At least 129 people were killed and 350 wounded -- of whom 99 were said to be in critical condition -- in a series of coordinated attacks by suicide bombers and gunmen in Paris at a concert hall, restaurants and the national sports stadium claimed by Islamic State jihadists.
It's troubling times at the Line of Control with the Indian Army personnel fighting off terrorists who have been trying to infiltrate into India. On Thursday morning, a jawan was killed and three others were injured after a fierce gunbattle broke out between security forces and the terrorists who had sneaked into Arnia border sector while another infiltration bid was foiled along the Line of Control in Rajouri district.
'It is clear that Prashant Kishor will be nowhere near repeating his earlier massive wins.' 'Nonetheless, he deserves at least two cheers for having the guts to take on such a challenging task.'
'If only Cariappa/Thimayya/Chaudhari/Manekshaw were given a free hand, there'll be no PoK, the Chinese would have been taught a lesson, 1965 would have slain the Pak demon and in 1971 just another fortnight's fighting after Bangladesh and West Pakistan would have been occupied.' 'No authoritative military account suggests anything remotely like any of these...' '...Chronologies, names, even periods get mixed up, but, never mind, because the point -- strong Army denied by cowardly Congress -- is made.' 'This is where Modi is coming from,' points out Shekhar Gupta.
Can Mamata Banerjee unite the Opposition?
'The era of conventional wars is almost over in the Indian context.' 'In such a scenario, special forces could play a decisive strategic role in the spectrum of conflict.'
Experts say Dhoni will continue to be relevant.
What India has failed to acknowledge is that sub-conventional war is the name of the game and irregular forces have emerged with greater strategic value over conventional and even nuclear forces, and reliance purely on conventional force and diplomacy is grossly inadequate, says Lt Gen Prakash Katoch (retired).
Deepta Roy Chakraverti talks to Chandrima Pal about her book that chronicles her psychic investigations into what she says are unnatural occurrences in familiar places.
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Friday asked the party's youth brigade to launch a strong, fearless and "tit-for-tat" campaign against Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on the social media.
Moments that shaped the world from the week that was
'What the BJP will have to ensure in order to score an ideological victory is to demonstrate not only its commitment to the rule of law -- which is the first prerequisite -- but to introduce a sense of compassion,' says Amulya Ganguli.
Fourteen years after they last met, the directors general of military operations of India and Pakistan on Tuesday held an over two-hour-long meeting at the Wagah border to ease tensions and ensure peace on the Line of Control.
Every day when Akhilesh returns after a joust with political adversaries to his Camelot, which is Lucknow's 5, Kalidas Marg, it is time to hold court with advisors and loyalists.
If India is to follow a smart cultural diplomacy, it has unmatched advantages over both China and Pakistan, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Both the parties had been banking heavily on the internal feud in the first family of the state
'It's not only holy reverence that drives them to such vigilantism -- there is adventure too.' 'Some of the younger gau rakshaks enjoy the thrill of the chase: Stopping vehicles, wielding weapons, badgering passengers and then gloating.'
'Pakistan will try to escalate covert operations through terrorism,' says Dr Shalini Chawla.
The 1971 war reaffirmed the importance of inspirational senior leadership in battle and heralded the emergence of a new fighting class amongst officers and men of India's armed forces.
India's demographic dividend may not automatically give rise to tangible economic gains -- at least not with immediate effect -- but it is likely to have a big impact on the coming Lok Sabha elections, Mayank Mishra
Thousands of people have lost their lives and thousands more displaced in the violence in South Sudan. The United Nations mission and humanitarian agencies are under strain to protect camps and to provide internally displaced persons with water, food and other emergency relief. What flared up as a political conflict in South Sudan is now assuming an ethnic character.
An acid test awaits the Indian football team as they host higher-ranked Oman in the second round opening match of the AFC qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Bengaluru on Thursday.
The current trans-LoC operations is a trailer projected to the Deep State that India can throw caution to the winds and calibrate its response.
As education minister Smriti Irani should be worried about the state of education nationwide rather than fuelling a German-versus-Sanskrit row, says Sunil Sethi
'The Pakistanis were lulled adequately to provide one of the fundamental prerequisites for successful execution of such an option: Surprise.' 'The other requisite: Deception in terms of selection of areas for launch/time of offensive action,' explains Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
The Ganga agitation and the question of preserving the Himalayan ecology has become a deadly cocktail of politics and religion. Behind the scene, of course, at play are powerful business interests. What is needed is an independent scientific assessment of the problem and preparation of a blueprint for preservation of the Himalayan rivers and associated ecology, says Dinesh C Sharma.
Seeing the potential of shale gas, Reliance Industries moved early to secure a foothold in the Marcellus shale reserves in the US.
'Not a single soldier should be left behind in enemy territory.' Nitin A Gokhale's fascinating account on how the Indian Army conducted the daring and successful cross-border operation last September.
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his Maharashtra counterpart Prithviraj Chavan held talks with Congress central leadership in New Delhi amid indications that decision on replacement of chief ministers will be made soon starting with Assam.
'The devious minds across the border will test us to the hilt, but in the course of that will offer us opportunities for which we must be prepared,' says Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd), who commanded the Uri Brigade, the Baramulla Division and the Srinagar-based Chinar Corps.
'Islamist terror groups have never been challenged ideologically. As long as their ideology survives, like cancer, these groups will sprout somewhere else, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Nobody is killing you in Kerala because you are Hindu unlike in North India where Muslims have been killed only because they are Muslims and were carrying some meat.'
'Pluralism is a fundamental fact of Indian life,' Colonel Anil A Athale (retd) tells members of the US Congress. 'Indians created a secular/plural State because that is what the majority believes in and not the other way round.'
Hardik Patel, who was leading the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, demanding Other Backward Class reservation for the Patel community, has been detained by the police in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. He was later released.
'I am not a friend of anyone who wants to defend, justify and glorify any businessman, power drunk person or religious fanatics, fake activists, apologists of terrorists, appeasers of some, oppressors of others, pretending to be political leaders,' says Amit Mehra.
No, I haven't made a mistake in the title. The age-old saying, 'Winners don't do different things. They do things differently,' made famous by Shiv Khera in his book You Can Win, is, in my opinion, wrong.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances